Margaret's Day Four of Film Watching...

From Park City on a warm and clear day: Every day I say to myself "post on the blog..do it now.. " and time flies away from me. Reporting finally that I'm in Sundance heaven, happy as a true cinephile can possibly be. We just left writer/director Maryam Keshavarz's wonderful film, Circumstance, about two teenagers amidst the subculture of Tehran's underground scene. Original. Beautiful glimpse into a world unfamiliar to most Americans. Last night we saw The Mill and the Cross which is definitely one of the top most unusual films I've ever seen. The director is a painter and a poet and has taken Bruegel's 1564 epic masterpiece, "The Procession to Calvary" and brought the characters alive in a most amazing way. I've never seen anything like it. Actors Rutger Hauer and Sir Michael York as well as the direcor Lech Majewski were present in the theatre which was quite a thrill to just see them up close and listen to them talk. If I had to pick a favorite so far it's a toss up between short films Brick Novax Parts I and II which are simply hilarious. When I spoke to the young filmmaker Matt Peidmont to say how much we loved his shorts, I told him about CFF and Easton and he smiled the entire time we spoke. Excited to be so well received at Sundance, he said..when he was just playing around being silly. My other favorite is a film about a young female powerlifter from Texas titled Benavides Born. When I congratulated the filmmaker and introduced myself to the co-screenwriter Daniel Meisel after this film as scout for CFF, he thanked ME for working on a film festival. Sweet, huh? He said festivals are enjoyable but especially important because this is often the only place some filmmakers have an opportunity to reach an audience at all. Another sweet moment was listening to the puppeteer Kevin Clash (he is ELMO) talk about the film Being Elmo..and the experience of working on Sesame Street for 26 years! Would love to have this one in our community! (and that gorgeous fury red moster Elmo was even there too)... Also loved Catechism Cataclysm... We heard several filmmakers at Coffee Chats at the Filmmakers Lodge which is a special treat, one on Being Elmo and the other this morning on the film Reagan and the film Page One about the New York Times. Much to think about there on media topics.
When going from place to place on the shuttles, we see dozens of volunteers - I hear there are 1700, yes 1700 total. Can you imagine?
Now going to see another film about art - !Women Art Revolution..we have photos to show and post on return...more later...